40 APRIL2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE386
HAVERUMOURSOFthecompactcamera’s
deathbeenexaggerated?Theriseofmirrorless
camerasandevermorecapablesmartphone
snappershasundoubtedlyspelledtroublefor
CSCs,yetherewehavetheSonyRX 100 VII,a
device that –thanks to some breathtaking
computational power –pushesthe boundaries
of what’s possible withapocketable camera.
MICRO MIRACLE
From 20fpsstill shooting to 4K HDR videoand
framerateoptions up to 1,000fps,there’s huge
functionalityhere forsuch asmall camera. It’s
just 102mm wide,58mm high and 43mmdeep,
and weighs 302g with abattery andmemory
card installed. That makes it fantastically
portable,asdoes thefact that it’scharged via
aUSB Type-C port,soyou don’t need to carry
aproprietarycharger as well.That’sjust as
well,asheavy use will drop battery lifedown
to abouttwo andahalf hours.
In almost everyother way, the RX100VII is
atriumph. The 3in, 921,000-pixel touchscreen
is great, andcan be tilted to 90°downwards,
allowing you to shoot over crowds,orcan fold
180° upwards so it’s pointing forwards.Italso
has possibly the world’ssmallest electronic
viewfinder,whichneatly pops outofthe left
side withabutton press. It’snot something we
used terribly often, but the 2.4-million-pixel,
0.39in displayisnonetheless excellent.
Next to the viewfinder is afold-down flash
–againanintricatepiece of design and, again,
not something many seriousphotographers
will reach forexcept in emergencies.Alittle
disappointingly,there’s no hot-shoe.
Videographers in particularwould appreciate
somewhere to mount amicrophone.
Otherwise, thisisasuperblyusable camera.
Thetop plateoffersthe shutterreleasewitha
zoom togglewrapped aroundit, the power
button and afullPASM modedial, including
dedicatedpositions forvideo andhigh-speed
SONY RX100VII
★★★★★
£1,049•
From http://www.wexphotovideo.com
VERDICT
TheRX100VIIcouldbeagreatchoicefortravellers
withstrictweightrequirements–anddeeppockets
COMPACTSYSTEMCAMERA
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back, as well as aknurled dial at the baseof
the lens. This is extremely customisable, being
capable of performing actionsfromwheeling
through the range of ISOstoadjusting white
balance or scrolling through the picture
effects applied to shotsasyou take them.
KEEPINGTRACK
Once youstart shooting with theRX100 VII,
you starttorealisehow thecamera’s output
transcends its small1in, 20.1-megapixel sensor.
The lens is equivalent to 24-200mmin35mm
terms, which makesitavery practical travel
optic, with an aperture range from f/2.8 at its
widest focal length to f/4.5 zoomed in.
20fps shootingisadefinitehighlight,
especiallyasSony’sReal-time Tracking tech
calculates autofocusmore than fast enough
to keepboth autofocus andauto-exposure
running as you shoot in suchquickbursts.
With 357 phase-detection AF points and 425
contrast-detect points, virtually the entire
sensor is covered by autofocus points, giving
you plenty of compositional flexibility.
More generally, the RX100 VII’s image
quality farexceeds what we’re used to seeing
from compact cameras. Keep the ISOunder
control –under800, in ourexperience –and
you’ll be rewardedwithgood-looking images
thateasily withstand alittle editing.That still
leavesitalittle limitedcompared to thebest
mirrorless cameras, whichhavethe flexibility
to reachhigher ISOswithoutgetting grainy,
but by compact standards it’s asuccess.
Video recording is even
better.4Kcan be recorded at
25fps with no pixel binning,and
achoice of 60MB/s or 100MB/s
bit rates. If you’rehappyto
shoot Full HD instead,frame
rates up to 100fpsbecome
available.You can also opt for
focus peaking and exposure
zebrastohelp get your footage
spot on, or shoot in S-Log2 or
S-Log3 to allow more grading
flexibilityinpost-production.
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footage forquicker NLE production. The
MicroHDMI port can be used to outputa
cleansignal foruse withanexternal recorder
and, speaking of ports, the RX100 VIIisthe
first in its lineage to include a3.5mm audio-in
port,allowing you to record audiodirectly
from an external microphone.Since there’s
no hotshoe to mountone on,however, it
mightbeworth buyingacage.
As withimage quality,the RX100VII excels
as long as youkeep it in its ISOcomfort zone.
Videomoves nicely andautofocus is quick
andsilent.Wealso foundthatevennon-log
footage waseasytocolour-correct in post,
making the RX100 VII agreat option for
videographers whoneed somethingvery
portable butwiththe flexibility andpower
they’reused to.That includes the
aforementioned 1,000fpsslow-motion mode,
though be warnedyou canonlyrecord up to
five secondsoffootage with it.
SMALL FAVOUR
Suchfeatures elevatethe RX100 VII well
beyond the competition,and it wasalready a
good camera on the basics alone.Itoffersa
superlative blend of profeatures, reasonable
quality andoutstanding portability.Granted, it
doesn’t beatagreat mirrorlesscameraon
imagequality,but as farasCSCs go,thisisthe
best onearound. If the compact form factor
was on its wayout, then Sony’slittle shooter
has at the veryleastbought it some time.
DaveStevenson
Battery life
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
See page 84 forperformancedetails
SENSOR RESOLUTION20.1 megapixels•SENSOR SIZE
13.2x8.8mm (1in)•FOCALLENGTHMULTIPLIER2.7x•
VIEWFINDERElectronic (2.4 milliondots)•LCDSCREEN3in
(921,600dots)•OPTICALZOOM(35mm-EQUIVALENT
FOCALLENGTHS)8x (24-200mm)•WEIGHT302g•
DIMENSIONS58x102x43mm•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•
DETAILSwww.sony.co.uk•PART CODEDSCRX100M7.CEH
SPECIFICATIONS
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